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DirecTV Sued By Washington State
thomst writes "A week ago, Rob McKenna, the Attorney General of Washington State, filed suit against DirecTV, alleging 16 counts of unfair, deceptive, and unethical business practices. The charges include failure to disclose important contract information (such as early termination fees, 'service maintenance' fees, and rebate terms), misrepresentation, 'negative option' billing, 'unconscionable enforcement of contract to which there has been no mutual consent,' failure to honor promotional offers, and 'imposing charges when no service has been provided.' The complaint is available online (PDF). MSNBC's Bob Sullivan states that McKenna's office received 375 complaints against DirecTV in the 11.5 months before he filed suit, and 59 additional complaints in the 24 hours immediately after the filing was announced. Sullivan's story also states, 'McKenna said he'd been working with DirecTV for months in an attempt to avoid a court battle, and he was surprised DirecTV refused to change its business practices voluntarily.'"
I particularly love the part about buying DirecTV from a Best Buy only to find out later that you don't really it.
Oh, and that you can't find a complete document outlining your rights and responsibilities in one place.
Even my credit card company does that...
You can't legislate goodness. Let each to his own destiny, by will of his freely made choices.
DirectTV had been strong arming alleged theft of service cases to force many innocent people to pay large amounts and settle out of court. It's about time that they get busted for other strong arm tactics that they are doing to customers. This company has been extorting money for years. It's finally about time someone goes after them!
I had a DirecTV Tivo DVR that was working fine in Missouri. I moved to Vermont and brought it with me. However the model would not work in Vermont.
Directv would not allow me to continue to use the Tivo model so they forced me to obtain their free DVR product (crap). Didn't cost me anything so I had to agree to that.
Then the DVR product broke and I asked DirecTV to replace it. They did so no problem but extended my two year contract without informing me. About a year later when the contract was supposed to have expire, I called to negotiate a better deal including HD etc, only to be told that I have one more year left. After countless calls I learned that they extended this quietly because they "gave" me a replacement DVR.
So screw them, I paid the ETF and moved to Dish. Ever since DirecTV have been bombarding me with mails begging me to come back but I'm staying with Dish for two years.
Hope the states force DirecTV to stop these practices.
Well, that's what we do here in WA. It's the east coast bias, the same thing which makes a kitten getting stuck in a tree in the Bronx national news. There's a certain thing which seems to give them an undeserved sense of superiority. And, over time it gets really annoying because this is Washington, that is Washington D.C. We outnumber them by a huge margin, we're Washington.
The irony though is that much of what we do is superior to what they're doing over there. Remind me again who it is that has an effective measure against gerrymandering and who it is that has schools that are actually somewhat affordable?
he was surprised DirecTV refused to change its business practices voluntarily.
I'm not surprised DirecTV ignored him. The big corporate types are used to owning government, and tend to get blindsided by guys who take their job as AG to mean that they're supposed to enforce the laws of their state (e.g. pre-affair Eliot Spitzer).
I am officially gone from
Having lived in Washington ("State") for most of my life, it's practically necessary when traveling in foreign places. Every single time I didn't specify the "state" at the end, people would say "Oh! Washington. Where the white house is, right?" It's very annoying indeed to have to specify which Washington. It's even more annoying if you live in Vancouver, WA.
"I'm from Vancouver Washington."
"Oh, Canada? Cool."
"No, it's in the state Washington; just 6-7 hours south of Canada's Vancouver."
"Oh, where the White house is, fun!"
"Nevermind."
If all else fails, add another if.
Actually, "Washington" the city doesn't officially exist. The capital of the United States is officially the District of Columbia. The fact that people still call it Washington is an artifact of its history.
As someone who grew up in a small town called Oregon (pronounced Or-gon), I can fully appreciate people who specify that they are speaking about a State instead of a city. At least in Oregon we can usually pick out people talking about the state as it is usually referred to as "Orgin".
-Rick
"Most people in the U.S. wouldn't know they live in a tyrannical state if it walked up and grabbed their junk." - MyFirs
Perhaps it depends on where you purchase DirecTV service through. The Best Buy "bundled" promo must have hidden a pantload of gotchas in there from the sounds of it.
I've had DirecTV off and on for 9 years now. From what I've experienced (compared to Time Warner and a few other providers) is that DirecTV's customer service is unparalleled in terms of being efficient, effective, and compliant. They have even won J.D. Power awards for customer satisfaction from what I recall. When I was a new customer (or renewing my NFL Sunday Ticket) I'd receive pay movie channels included for 3 months, get used to them, and would get the free period extended (several times over the course of a whole year) by calling into customer service and threaten to cancel my account down the road. Practically every time I called in I got some promo offer extended.
That being said, it could perhaps have something to do with different states having different whys and wherefores. But I do know that going to "Worst Buy" is typically a bad move. From what I've heard their sales consist of a lot of items that are being phased out by the manufacturer. So they are dumped into the market as end of life items at a deep discount. Can't count how many items I've tried to return that can't be replaced since they were no longer actively sold or supported. So I can only imagine purchasing a bundled service through them...
Give it up. I was born in Bangor. Which one comes to mind first?
I moved to Portland. No, not that one, the other one.
I did a lot ofbusiness in Augusta. That one is not known for golf.
If you just say 'Washington', most people think 'D.C.', and rightly so, since it impacts their lives much more.
A common mistake, get over it. Or move where the rain doesn't make you so cranky. That would NOT be Portland, Maine.
deleting the extra space after periods so i can stay relevant, yeah.
Why pay cable/satellite companies for TV in general? I've found that I'm perfectly happy with getting all of my TV online through iTunes, Netflix, Hulu, and various network's websites. Just pay for a good internet connection (which generally doesn't have such ridiculous terms and conditions) and stream. You can now even stream sports games from the internet (for a nominal cost from season to season).
The payment structures and contracts involved with cable/satellite TV just seem ridiculous and antiquated now.
And no, I haven't had any problems with bandwidth limits (just get the right package).
Faith is a willingness to accept something w/o complete proof and to act on it. Reason allows you to correct that faith.
If by university you mean an extended frat for drinking and fielding really bad football teams...
Browsing at +1 - no ACs, I ignore their posts. So refreshing!
I agree. A lot of this sounds like sour grapes. I didn't buy my HD-DVR at Worst Buy, I bought it direct from DirecTV. They made it perfectly clear that the cheap price was to lease it, and to buy it outright it was insanely expensive. You'd have to know this when you go to activate it, it's part of the process.
EVERYONE has termination fees. Go get cable and cancel it the next day, same deal. I have no problem with states going after companies over outrageous fees, but DirecTV certainly isn't the only one doing it. Same thing with contract extensions. My cell carrier will extend my contract if I even so much as breathe while on the phone with them.
The introductory fee thing isn't unique either. I called my local cable provider not too long ago to price out the competition. They couldn't tell me the non introductory rate. They didn't know (or wouldn't say)! This is the price for a year, you'll have a two year contract. What happens the second year, it's a mystery.
Seems like there needs to be a consumer bill of rights that lays down the law. The billion dollar corporations have way too much power. An individual consumer has little to no effective recourse. I'm not a fan of more government, but other than shunning all technology, what's a person to do?
The only "real" fix it to stop treating corporations like "humans". They are a company regardless of their filing.
Hold them responsible for their actions, and limit their ability to "pass on" the cost of their bad actions, so it truly affect their bottom line. They don't care when they get "caught"; They "apologize"; then raise their fees/charges/rates/... to cover the cost of the "infraction", then find a new way to screw the customer base. If they actually had to pay, then they would stop, or go out of business - either way the consumer "wins".
I don't have any evidence, but I'll bet the "lease" deal came out of the DTV hacking that was so prevalent in the not to distant past. If they own the equipment, they have more "rights".
It seems a lot of corporations use this cycle; Telecom, Cable/Satellite, ...
They will send trivial amounts to a collection agency, too. I had a dispute with them and changed to Dish. You prepay for DirecTV, and the disputed bill contained a month of service, plus the new month (and the service was off). I refused to pay and they sent the entire bill to a collection agency, even though the last month of service was not used. My credit history is almost spotless, except for that one DirecTV bill hanging out there...
I worked at a place with monthly subscriptions and we discussed sending outstanding bills to a collection agency. Everyone decided against it because we thought it would generate more negative feelings toward the company than it would bring in money. Apparently, they never had this meeting at DirecTV!
Doctors destroy health, lawyers destroy justice, universities destroy knowledge, religion destroys spirituality
Do you have any idea what that costs when you live in an area with no cable tv or DSL service?
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I was a DirecTV subscriber six years ago, and got fed up with them.
Dish is much easier to deal with. Full disclosure: I disconed them too in March, not for poor service or high fees, - I got good service and the fees were OK - but in protest to the Copyright Cartel.
Some find it shocking that I don't watch TV anymore (not even on hulu.com). Until the Copyright Cartel quits their antics, NO COOKIE FOR YOU!
Necessity is the plea for every infringement of human freedom. It is the argument of tyrants; it is the creed of slaves.
A common mistake, get over it. Or move where the rain doesn't make you so cranky.
The rain helps keep the Californians away. It's a feature, not a bug.
Irony: Agile development has too much intertia to be abandoned now.
"...every time I feel like bitching about Comcast I'll remember DirecTV and tell myself it could be worse."
Seriously, how did we reach the point where Comcast is the best we can get? We thought Comcast had lowered the bar for customer service - how is it that everyone else in the industry still manages to trip over that bar?
Libertarians somehow believe that private businesses should be stronger than governments but weaker than individuals.
Washington State has a history of statewide non-Governor positions being very bipartisan, but McKenna is all about pure ambition. He has chosen a few minor out of state companies to use as sacrificial lambs to populism and let major polluters and slime ball businesses run free in the state. He clearly has his eye on the Governor's office that is open in a few years due to term limits. The Current Governor is Washington's former AG and a prime mover behind the big tobacco settlement.
I had signed up for service when my wife and I moved. Signed up online for a sweet deal that got me two HD DVR's and I only paid $99. Get everything setup and find out it's 2 HD receivers (not what I ordered). Since I didn't have the screenshot of me signing up, they tried to tell me I couldn't get it and they didn't offer that service; however, a coupon came in the mail that day for the exact same thing, which they tried to deny on the phone. Since I was still in the 24-hour grace period to cancel without fees, they appeased me by giving me one HD DVR for another $99 that would be refunded when I sent back one of the HD receivers. After not getting a refund for a full billing cycle, they inform me that they're not allowed to do that, there's no way to get my $99 back that I was promised and I cannot cancel without paying the $480 cancellation ($20/month * 24 months). I argue on the phone for a full hour and the best I can get is 6 months at $10 off. BBB complaint later and a "business decision" is reached to refund the remaining $39 they stole from me. Fast forward two months and we lose service for a full week from snow. I'm informed that I must have someone come out to fix it (implied that this wasn't optional) but not told about the service fee (yes, I know it was in the contract but at the time I was still new to satellite and didn't realize that, unlike cable, they have the mantra of, "Fix it yourself or pay us money."). When I see this $50 fee on my bill, I call up and complain. I get all the way up to the head supervisor who tells me that the only way she'll take that charge off my bill is to sign up for the $10/month protection plan because, get this, I have too many credits ($10/month for the previous screw-up, 1 week without service credit, and the $39 "we're sorry for stealing from you" credit)! Thankfully, AT&T U-Verse came around. No commitment, no up front costs, and I get $300 switching (net +$30 after canceling DirecTV @ -$270). I call to cancel DirecTV for the date I'm going to get U-Verse installed. The day after this I still don't see a cancellation fee on my credit card. Knowing DirecTV I find this odd, so I call them up and they promptly tell me that they have no record of my cancellation request but do see I called the previous week (deja vu). Luckily I had been screwed enough that I took down the employee ID of the person I had originally talked to and was able to file a complaint against them and get the cancellation backdated as it should have been. For the next week, I received 3+ calls per day wanting me to come back and wanting to know why I canceled. My only response: I canceled because of your crappy customer service. I guess they forget that when you claim "best customer service", comparing against one other company doesn't make the claim a good one.
"They who can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety." --Benja
You haven't been given squat.
If you accepted new receivers from them, then they extended your contract, possibly without your knowledge and/or consent.
They came out to my house because I told them that their installation (done by their contractor) was not compliant with the national electric code (no ground on outside antenna) and they tried to extend my contract from that date. That did not go over well.
In my opinion, they are thieves and criminals, and they get away with it because they have an unlimited budget for litigation. I expect that the State of Washington will be delayed and appealed ad infinitum, and I expect that the judgement will reflect that.
As far as your bill goes, if it gets too high, you can always switch -- if you can get out of your contract. (See paragraph 2, above.) Good luck with that.
there are 3 kinds of people:
* those who can count
* those who can't